The Boss Baby Daddy (A Secret Baby Romance)

by Claire Adams

  “Why don’t you go home early?” I asked her.

  “I can’t. This is my business,” she said.

  I shrugged, “It’s always an option. People will understand. Everybody has a bad day once in a while, right?” I said. Sadie didn’t say anything in response, and we spent the next few minutes sitting in silence. I could tell she really didn’t feel good because usually she was so upbeat and talkative.

  After a few more minutes of silence, I thought I would ask her more about Derek. “Do you think you’ll see this guy again?” I made sure not to use his name, as that would give me away for sure.

  “Yeah, I’m hoping so. I really like him. He was so funny and smart. You know how I feel about those artistic type guys. I’m just blown away by how amazing he is. He’s like the full package. I know I just met him, but something is just different about him.”

  I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes. She had no idea who this guy really was. I didn’t want to be the one to break it to her. Besides, there was a chance that he could turn out to be a really great guy for her, and I didn’t want to ruin that without her finding out for herself. She hated my ex-husband and yet she hardly ever said anything about it.

  “Well, if you’re happy, I’m happy. But if he hurts you, I’m kicking his ass.”

  Sadie laughed at me and then put a hand to her head and made a pained face. I tried not to laugh at her.

  “What?” I asked her.

  “It’s just… I tried to picture you kicking someone’s ass. It didn’t work out,” she said.

  “For me? Or for them?” I knew she was talking about me, but I wanted to mess with her.

  “For you, sweetheart,” she said in a sarcastic tone. I hated it when she used the word ‘sweetheart.’ It drove me nuts, but I left it alone because I knew it was in good fun, and I didn’t want to be ‘that friend.’

  “No, I’m pretty sure that it wouldn’t work out for them. It won’t work out for him if he does hurt you. I promise I got your back,” I said. It was my warning of sorts for her to be careful.

  Sadie looked up at me, “I really appreciate that. You’re a good friend, Rachel,” she said.

  I smiled at her, and then I helped her close up the bakery. She finally took my advice and since her morning rush was about over anyway, she agreed to just go home and get some sleep. It wasn’t good for her to try to work through a hangover like that. Her customers probably would prefer it that way anyway.

  “Thank you so much for helping me today,” she said as we were saying our goodbyes.

  I leaned in and gave my best friend a hug. “I’m glad I got to do it. It was fun. We need to hang out more often. I can’t wait to hear more about this newguy,” I said.

  “I can’t wait to hear more about James,” she said.

  We parted and went our separate ways. I walked slowly and thought about different things. I thought about how things had turned around for me. And how things seemed so different. Everything seems so much brighter the last couple months. I thought about Sadie and Derek. I thought about James and Nell. And I thought about the one thing that had been holding me back from really enjoying life.

  When I got into my house, I walked over to the picture frame, the one I’d hidden away from Nell and James. I picked it up and held it close to me. No matter what, I think a piece of me will always be torn apart about what happened. I looked down at the picture of the little baby girl, and a single tear rolled down my cheek as I held the picture to me. I wrapped my arms around it and pretended like I was rocking the baby girl. I missed her so much, and the only thing that had helped me get through was James and Nell.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  James

  On our way to school that morning, Nell seemed extra quiet. Every time I tried to ask her what was bothering her, she refused to tell me, and my concern for her only grew more. I knew that Rachel had talked to her, and I’d hoped that it would fix things, and it had over the weekend, but this morning, she obviously had something on her mind.

  “Are you okay?” I asked her.

  I looked in the rearview mirror. She just shrugged. It drove me nuts when she did that. It was like she was shutting me out.

  “Nell, you can talk to me, you know. Something bothering you?” I asked her in a gentle voice. I wanted her to know that I could be someone she could lean on. I could be someone that she could talk to about whatever she was going through.

  “I don’t want to go to school.”

  I turned in the school parking lot and pulled behind the other parents that were dropping kids off. I stopped the car and looked behind me at her.

  “Why not?” I asked her.

  Once again, she shrugged.

  “Sweetie, if you don’t tell me what is going on, I can’t help you,” I said to her. I’d hoped that this would bring her out of her shell. I wanted her to just tell me what was going on with her, so I could fix whatever was bothering my little girl.

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” she said.

  “That’s okay too, sweetie.” I got out and walked around to help her get out of the car, then gave her a big hug and told her I was going to miss her. I told her that I’d see her soon and that I hoped she had a good day. And I really did hope she had a good day. I didn’t want her coming home sad anymore. I knew something was bothering her at school, but I just didn’t know what it was.

  “I’ll ask Rachel about the parents’ dinner, okay?” I said to her, and for the first time that morning, a huge smile lit up her face. She wrapped her little arms tightly around me and gave me a big hug.

  “Thank you, Daddy. I love you,” Nell said.

  Then I watched as she made her way over to where her class was standing. Still worried, I walked back around and drove away.

  “Hey, beautiful,” I said to Rachel when I got to work. I loved how she would get up from sitting at the desk and greet me every day when I got there. It was a simple gesture, but it was sweet.

  “Hey, handsome. Thank you,” Rachel said, taking the coffee from me. I gave her a kiss.

  “So, I have a question for you,” I started. I wasn’t sure how to invite her to the parents’ dinner. I was nervous, but I kinda figured that since it was for Nell, she would love to do it. There was something about Rachel that still made me nervous. Maybe it was my own insecurities about losing someone else I’d loved so much.

  “I might just have an answer for you,” she said, with a laugh.

  I laughed along with her and then decided I better just come out and ask her. “Nell’s school is having a parents’ dinner this weekend. She wants to know if you’ll come?”

  Rachel’s eyes lit up right away, and that told me she was more than excited to join us. “Of course! I would love to join you both for that,” she beamed.

  I smiled and wrapped her in another hug. Then I gave her a soft kiss on her lips.

  “I was hoping you would say that, but I just didn’t know what you might’ve thought,” I said to her.

  “You don’t ever have to be nervous about asking me to those types of things. I’d love to go. I adore Nell and care deeply for her. Anything she needs me to do, I’m in,” Rachel said.

  I loved how she was open to everything regarding Nell. She wanted to do just about everything Nell had ever asked her to. And she did it with a smile on her face. I’d never once heard her complain about Nell even being around. We got time alone together when Nell went to spend the night with friends, and I think that was just enough for Rachel. I love that about her, how she just went with the flow. She understood that I had a child and that Nell needed to come first.

  “She’s going to be very happy,” I told her.

  My phone started ringing, and I looked down to see it was a number I didn’t recognize.

  “Who is it?” Rachel asked. She must’ve seen the confusion on my face.

  “No idea,” I said to her. Figuring it was probably a client, I answered.

  “This is James,” I said into the p
hone.

  “Hello, James. This is Trisha Williamson. I’m the principal at Nell’s school. Nell is currently in my office, and I need you to get here right away,” the voice said.

  “What is this about? Is she okay?” I asked. I had no idea what had happened, so there were a thousand things running through my mind.

  “There’s been a fight, and you need to come to the school. That’s all I can say over the phone, thank you,” Trisha said.

  “I’ll be there soon as I can,” I said to her. I hung up the phone, grabbed my jacket and gave Rachel kiss.

  “Is everything okay?” Rachel asked.

  Bless her heart for caring and thinking something might have happened.

  “I think so, but I’m not sure. That was Nell’s principal, and I’m gonna go find out what it’s all about right now,” I said. “Can you cover things here? The pieces for the—"

  “I’ve got this; you go ahead and don’t worry about a thing here. I hope everything is okay,” Rachel said.

  I gave her another kiss. “Me too,” I said and then rushed out to my car and raced to the school. There were a million things racing through my mind. Did something happen? Did she get hurt? Did this have anything to do with the way she was acting?

  My nerves were going absolutely crazy. I just wanted to get to school so I could figure out what was going on. I was very worried about Nell and hated how cryptic the principal was on the phone. I felt like she should have been able to give me more information than she had.

  I pulled into the parking lot, shut off my car and got out. I walked into the office and let them know that I was Nell’s father. They had me sit in a chair and wait for a minute. After about a two-minute wait, the principal opened the door.

  “Come on in; I have Nell in my office,” she said.

  I followed the principal inside and saw Nell sitting there. She had obviously been crying and looked about to start again now that I was here. I sat down next to her, “What is this all about?” I asked Ms. Williamson.

  “Well, this morning as class was beginning, Nell hit another child,” she said.

  I was completely baffled. “What?”

  “Your daughter became angry with another student and hit her,” the principal said.

  I turned and looked at Nell, not believing my ears. There was no way that my sweet innocent little girl would’ve done that to another child. There had to have been a really good reason behind it.

  “Why did you do that, Nell?” I asked her.

  Nell looked up at me, “Rachel told me to stand up to bullies,” she said, her voice small and quiet. It made me feel a little bad for her.

  “What? Rachel told you to what?” I was so confused. Why was Rachel giving my daughter advice on how it was okay to hit other children? She might not have worded that way, but Rachel had no idea how to be a parent. She didn’t realize how a child could take something you say and turn it into something else.This was not okay at all. My heart broke a little bit, and it suddenly seemed like maybe I hadn’t made the best decision by having Nell get so close to Rachel. Maybe being with someone who didn’t have kids of her own wasn’t such a great idea. Maybe she didn’t understand what it was like to have children.

  “We haven’t decided on a proper punishment yet, but I think for the day you’ll just need to take her home,” Trisha said.

  “I can do that. I’m sorry for what my daughter has done and I’ll have her write an apology letter to the child she hit,” I said.

  I shook her hand and told her to have a wonderful day. She was still cold and stoic towards me, however. I didn’t really like her and wondered how she could work in an elementary school and be that cold towards children. Did she know what had happened between the two kids? No, she had no idea. She didn’t even bother to stop and ask Nell what possibly could have provoked something so out of character. I didn’t talk to Nell much as we got in the car. I didn’t want to embarrass her in front of everyone.

  But as soon as we were in the car, I asked her what had been going on. To which she just responded with a shrug. I was getting more and more frustrated. I didn’t understand why Rachel would tell my Nell to do something like that. She was most definitely overstepping. I needed to have a talk with her. A very serious talk that could even impact our future together. I wasn’t going to put up with her telling my child what to do and setting Nell up to get in trouble.

  “You know that wasn’t okay, right?” I asked her.

  She nodded her head and sniffed back a couple of tears. I know I probably should have felt bad for her, because obviously she was going through some stuff, but I didn’t seem to know how to talk to my daughter. She didn’t seem to know how to talk to me, either. She wouldn’t let me in.

  “Nell, you can’t just hit other kids. If you have a problem with someone, you need to talk to them or to your teacher, or me. But you can’t use violence.”

  Nell ignored me and continued to stare out the window like it was nothing. It was the most infuriating thing.

  “Nell, you can’t ignore me. Ignoring this is not going to make the problem go away. Obviously, something is happening at school. You need to tell me what is going on.”

  Silence.

  I continued to drive back towards work. I was getting more and more frustrated the closer I got. I know I was going to have to address Rachel, and I tried to calm myself down before I got there, because I didn’t want to completely blow up at her, but she had no idea what it was like to be a parent. She had no right to give Nell any sort of advice, especially without talking to me first.

  “Are you mad at Rachel?” Nell asked, when we pulled up outside the art gallery.

  “Yes, I am.” I didn’t want to lie or sugar coat anything. “This is serious, Nell.”

  “Don’t be mad at her, Daddy,” Nell said, but it was already too late for that.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Rachel

  I was sitting at the gallery, anxiously waiting for James to at least call and let me know what happened. I was worried, and there were so many different scenarios running through my mind. I was also concerned about James. I couldn’t imagine how he felt right now. Rushing to the school to figure out what was wrong with his daughter. What she hurt, was she sick? I had no idea. All I really want to do was know what was happening. I wanted to make sure she was okay. It seemed like the minutes were passing so slowly.

  The phone rang and I jumped, then quickly picked it up.

  “Hello?” I practically yelled into the phone, hoping it was James letting me know what was going on. It wasn’t.

  “Hey, Rachel. It’s Mark Zeller; we spoke on the phone last week. I was looking to set up a meeting with James?”

  “Oh, yes. Sure thing, let me just pull up his schedule,” I said. When his calendar opened on my computer, I started looking for an opening. “He’s tied up early in the week, but he’s got some time on Thursday at three if that works for you.” I said.

  “Sounds good to me. I’m free then, as well,” he said, with a laugh.

  I wanted to laugh along with him, but the truth was I just couldn’t. My mind was elsewhere. I was worried about too many different things. I wanted to make sure Nell was okay and still had no idea what was going on.

  I scheduled him in, and we ended the call.

  Then I sat there at my desk. I stared at my phone hoping that it would help the minutes pass by. I even opened up the game Candy Crush, but it felt like the more I try to distract myself, the longer it took for time to pass. I felt like I was going crazy, worried that she was hurt or sick. I didn’t know what was going on and wished that James would call and tell me. At least then I could know what was going on and maybe calm down. What if he was at the hospital right now and he was so busy in the middle of the emergency that he hadn’t had a chance to call? Those were the thoughts I was having.

  A few minutes later, James finally appeared, coming into the gallery door.

  “Rachel, I need to see you in my office,”
he said. His voice was harsh, and I cringed. I didn’t know why, but I felt like a child that was in trouble at this point. All it did was confuse me further.

  “Okay,” I said. I no idea what this was about, and I couldn’t tell if his anger was aimed at me or at Nell.

  “Nell, you sit in the corner until we’re done talking,” he said, sternly.

  I gave Nell a small sympathetic smile. I still wasn’t sure what had happened to her, but she didn’t look hurt or sick, just upset. I wondered if maybe it had something to do with what she’d told me the other night at their house. But it still seemed like James was mad at me, and that wasn’t making any sense. I wasn’t sure what I could have done.

  Following James up the stairs and into his office, I took a deep breath. He sat down at his desk, and I took the seat across from him.

  “What is going on?” I asked him.

  He turned to his computer and started doing some things. I assumed he was checking in and responding to some emails that were of a little more importance. Nonetheless, I was still nervous. I wasn’t sure what was happening.

  Then he stopped what he was doing, and looked at me. He still didn’t say anything; he just looked at me. The expression on this face and his body language made my stomach sink. There was something definitely wrong between us. I didn’t know what it was, but I could feel it in my gut.

  “So, would you like to know why I had to pick up Nell?” he said, folding his hands over the table and leaning forward some.

  “Yes, of course, I do,” I said to him, not knowing what else to say. I felt like somehow like I was the one in trouble, but I still had no idea why.

  “Well, I got a call from the principal. When I got there, Nell was in her office. Do you know why she was in the principal’s office?” he asked.

  I shrugged. “What? Why? How could I possibly know?”